Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com

Dealing with psychic attack
Zhahai Stewart
What to do if you think you are being attacked.
1 - Question if it is really either imagination, or coming from within
yourself. Something may be trying to get your attention, but it may not be
external, and by focussing on an external "enemy" you may be missing the
point.
2 - Check to see if you are yourself inadvertently sending something out;
maybe someone is just reflecting some energy back! Nothing is gained if you
get into adversarial mode in that case. Many people have been taught that
reflecting is the proper response.
3 - Put up a grounding shield. Ground it out, send it to the Mother who
can recycle the energy. Grounding is usually taught to every student. If you
don't feel you can be a "conduit" safely, ground it by reflecting it
downward to the Earth; that is a big target and easy to hit. By grounding
it out, you are protecting yourself, yet not being caught up in it.
What not to do.
1 - Figure out who is sending it and counter attack. You might be wrong,
and may be starting a feud. You might be right, but they may not realize
that they are "sending" so you may start a feud or cause unnecessary harm.
Even if you are right, you are escalating a feud, of which we have too many.
This is commonly discussed as a bad idea.
2 - Put up a reflective shield which will return the energy to the sender.
This is commonly discussed as a good idea, but we disagree. We think this is
unwise.
For one thing, it is not necessary; if you can make an accurate return
reflection, you can certainly reflect it to Earth instead (where it can be
recycled). There is no reason you should not be able to ground out more
energy than you can accurately reflect to the sender, if viewed properly.
For another, your accuracy in returning it may be less than perfect. You
might hit close but not close enough; if you can't reflect it to earth, you
are going to have trouble reflecting it to an unknown person.
Sometimes this is discussed as if once you return it, the sender will just
stop; because they will awaken to what they are doing, or because the
returning energy will be too much to handle. The thing which is seldom
mentioned is that if the sender (assuming there is one) was consciously
attacking, they will likely already be prepared with their own mirrors, etc.
Great, if we put near perfect mirrors at each end and pump in energy, maybe
we can get a psychic laser effect; guess who is just on the other side of the
mirrors to catch the intensified leakthru?
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If they weren't aware of sending, they will probably just assume they are
being attacked and take countermeasures. If they follow the 3 steps above,
fine, nothing is damaged. But many of them will immediately think they have
to put up a defensive mirror, or maybe worse (see below; they may decide to
teach you a lesson for attacking them). Few people naturally respond to
perceived attacks positively (especially if they are in such a bad mood
already as to be sending without even realizing it).
Another serious concern is getting drawn into a unacknowledged feud by your
own weaknesses. It is often agreed that one should reflect back exactly
what is received, without adding anything of one's own. But the same people
who advocate that may use terms implying "returning it with enthusiasm".
There appears to be an easily tapped source of self-righteousness in most
people feeling attacked, and it is _very hard_ not to get drawn into
imagining, at some level, the satisfying effects of the energy going back to
the attacker; that draws one into a "counter-attack" even without realizing
it. Grounding it does not.
Watch for yourself when people are discussing "returning to sender"; see if
there isn't very often a hidden desire for revenge or retribution lurking
there grasping for their "control panel" - and deflecting their normal
attempts at staying centered by claiming to do no more than is "justified".
Justified is not the question; self knowledge and balance are.
There is another thread which shows up often in discussions like these; the
need to "teach the sender a lesson". In some cases, I have even heard this
justified as "protecting the community". This way lies many... ....PRINT D did
the goddess give you an "agent of threefold return" marshall's badge, that
exempts you from any consequences "because you are just an agent"? That
hubris is gonna teach some hard lessons, but the self appointed marshall may
be the major recipient. It would be a little bit healthier to just shed the
self-righteousness and call it an ego driven feud. "Teaching them a lesson"
gets filed under the pitfalls of righteousness, the ways that one's own
weaknesses seduce one.
Also consider, what if despite your initial impression, the negative energy
is really coming from inside, from part of you? Are you going to be better
off "reflecting it back" (maybe with additional conscious or unconscious
oomph) or grounding it? "Gee, I returned it but good, and now they have
stepped it up; the sender really needs a lesson!". That may be more true
than you know, bucko.
Notice that nowhere do we say that one has no "right" to put up a
reflective shield; of course one does, and is fully justified. Also,
possibly, unwise. There is a distinction between what one has a "right" to do
in "self defense", and what is wise to get drawn into. Reflecting it is
neither necessary, nor likely to produce positive results, but if _that
itself_ is the lesson to be learned, what can I say? Each chooses their own
path, and that is as it should be. At least if one has considered the above,
one should know what they are stepping into.
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